Welcome to Bristol eco-village.
Welcome.
The squatters moved in on Saturday and already three acres of desolate wasteland in inner-city Bristol have been transformed.
What is dead has been brought back to life.
The beans are planted in the soil – on lined raised beds as the land used to be a scrapyard and may be contaminated by toxins.
The squatters are conducting soil tests.
If contamination is found, the squatters plan some soil restoration, such as feeding with compost tea and planting with nitrate-fixing plants (such as beans).
Here is their reception area where visitors can get more info.
It looks like something out of Mad Max or a similar post-apocalyptic movie – and that’s the point.
Rather than be victims of a future likely eco-disaster, some people would rather prepare positively in the present.
Here is a makeshift green house.
On Tuesday the squatters must got to court.
Why?
Must the land be repossessed by the owners so it may lie unused for another twenty years?
Or can it be restored to life as the squatters are doing, growing vegetables and rebuilding soil fertility?
“We come in peace they said
To dig and sow
We come to work the lands in common
And to make the waste ground grow
This earth divided
We will make whole
So it will be
A common treasury for all
We work, we eat together
We need no swords
We will not bow to the masters
Or pay rent to the lords.
Still we are free
Though we are poor
You Diggers all stand up for glory
Stand up now!”
Real Food Lover 